Editorials / Blogs

People are uprooting their lives to flock to Pueblo county, Colorado, where legal weed, Medicaid expansion and very low cost of living have created the perfect storm. Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images

Marijuana activist Mason Tvert, flanked by entrepreneur Jane West and attorney Christian Sederberg, said outside the Denver Elections Division on Aug. 10, 2015, that he was optimistic about a potential ballot measure in November to allow consumption of marijuana in some businesses. (Jon Murray, The Denver Post)

The Denver Post - Whether Denver voters in November will face a choice about allowing patrons to use marijuana in bars and some other businesses wasn’t in dispute Monday, though ballot certification still could be weeks away.

Kyle Turley was an All-American offensive lineman at SDSU. He played in the NFL for a decade, with stints in New Orleans, St. Louis and Kansas City. Over the years he has struggled with headaches, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and lights sensitivity -- much of which he believes might stem from the head trauma he suffered during his NFL career. Using marijuana in privacy of his home, Turley says, has helped with all his issues, especially light sensitivity, anxiety and nixing suicidal thoughts. — Nelvin C. Cepeda

Huffington Post - A key Senate committee passed a bill today allowing the nation's capital to establish regulated marijuana stores and let banks provide financial services to state-legalized marijuana dispensaries. These are just two of several marijuana reforms advancing in Congress. Meanwhile sentencing reform is gaining steam, and the U.S. is shifting towards treating drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue.

Lead "bud tender" Robbie Lee rings up purchases during the March 7, 2015 grand opening of The Cannabis Corner in North Bonneville, Washington, the first city-owned recreational marijuana store in the country. JASON REDMOND/REUTERS

Newsweek - In downtown Washington, D.C., the Department of Justice asserts that marijuana enterprises are free to exist, while immediately across 10th Street, the IRS tells those businesses they are illegal drug-trafficking operations ineligible for the benefits other corporate entities enjoy.

Yahoo - A study released on Monday found that despite an increased acceptance of marijuana at city and state levels, adolescent use of the drug — as well as approval of it — is down across the country.

Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, speaks about taxes on marijuana outside the Capitol in 2013. "Any industry that is heavily regulated by the government has to have an active voice," the group's deputy director recently said.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

NPR - State by state, the legal marijuana business is slowly gaining ground. The industry is using both an increasingly favorable public opinion toward marijuana and a newly legal cash flow to try to transform itself into a force in national politics.